"Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V heads to the city of Los Santos and surrounding hills, countryside and beaches in the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created."

Announced on October 25, 2011, the game's first trailer[2] was released on November 2, 2011, at 4:00 PM GMT. The game was initially slated for a Spring 2013 release, but was pushed to September 17 the same year. Then, on July 15, 2013, Rockstar announced the Japanese release date for the game: October 10, 2013, almost a month after it will be released in the west.[3]

Grand Theft Auto V was released to universal acclaim, holding scores of 96 and above on MetaCritic and GameRankings, as well as receiving perfect scores from over 30 reviewers. The game sold 13 million copies and grossed $800 million on its first day.

Contents

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto V evolves nearly every mechanic that was in the previous Grand Theft Auto games. As far as driving goes, the cars have been greatly improved, with Rockstar running more physics on them. The cars even hold to the ground a bit better, and the mechanics feel more like a racing game, particularly the Midnight Club series, compared to Grand Theft Auto IV's rocky, boat-like handling system. The shooting mechanics are better in terms of the feel of the mechanics and bigger compared to the melee mechanics in the game, but that doesn't mean that the melee combat won't be fun, as it as been improved over the previous titles as well. Weapon selection has now also been changed. Instead of the old way of selecting through all the weapons, there is now a weapon wheel, which is similar to the version in Red Dead Redemption.

There are many unique features in the game, one of those features is that when the players are playing as one of three protagonists in the game, the other two are living out their daily lives, and you will be surprised by what you find the characters doing when you switch back into them. Another unique feature is the swapping characters feature happens in a Google Earth styled manner and was displayed during a Game Informer demo, which it showed to have ran smoothly and without lag.

New activities have also been added, such as yoga, triathlons, jet skiing, base-jumping, tennis, a full-fledged golf, and scuba diving. The mobile phone has also returned but is only used for calling your friends and using the internet. Flipping off people is another new feature the player can use (which Rockstar recommended you do in various locations around Los Santos to see the outcome of this effect, depending on where the player is at they will get different reactions from pedestrians).

Rockstar has also made changes to the pedestrian mechanics; some pedestrians you see at the bus stops in South Los Santos reappear in Rockford Hills working on rich peoples' lawns and gardens. Some minor mechanics that help out the environment and looks of Los Santos come on at certain times, such as a sprinklers system coming on in the morning in rich areas like Rockford Hills.

The map is larger than San Andreas (3D Universe), Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption combined. After some calculations by members of GawdAlmighty.com, that would equal to around 207.5 square miles when land and sea are combined. [3]

Vehicles

Grand Theft Auto V has more vehicles than in any other Grand Theft Auto game to date, with a variety of vehicles, including airplanes, helicopters, convertible cars, utility vehicles, emergency service cars, motorcycles, and jet skis. Players are able to fly planes, which was not possible in Grand Theft Auto IV because of the size of the map, but is in Grand Theft Auto V because the map is larger. In a brief scene in the first trailer, overhead wires are visible on a banking next to the road, which are probably wires for a railway track. There are also submarines that players are able to use.

Weaponry

The game features a large variety of weapons, like the Norinco Type 56-2 assault rifles with sound suppressors, mounted lasers, olive drab polymer furniture, and side-folding stocks. This leads to the return of suppressed weapons and the possibility of attaching suppressors to most firearms or having an individual variant of the weapon that has a suppressor while the other remains without any attachments. Melee weapons like the nightstick and the Golf Club that weren't present in Grand Theft Auto IV, have also returned to Grand Theft Auto V.

Character Customization

In the game, the player has the option to customize the three protagonists' wardrobe and appearances. They can choose to either change their clothing or their hair and facial hair. For more information, use the main article.

Multiplayer

According to the Rockstar Games Social Club, multiplayer crews in Max Payne 3 will be carried over to Grand Theft Auto V.[4]Grand Theft Auto V will have multiplayer features linked to Rockstar's Social Club. If the player created a crew in Max Payne 3, it can be imported to Grand Theft Auto V through the Social Club.

Multiplayer will hold 16 people on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Multiplayer was confirmed in the Grand Theft Auto V official release statement, as it mentions "online multiplayer". Apart from the fact that Crews from Max Payne 3 will carry over to Grand Theft Auto V, and therefore crews will be present in Grand Theft Auto V, no information about multiplayer has been released. It has also been confirmed that a separate team is developing the single player while another team is working on the multiplayer.

Synopsis

Setting

On November 3, 2011, Rockstar Games confirmed that the game will take place in Los Santos and the surrounding countryside - and will not feature a recreated rendition of an entire State of San Andreas - in a statement on their Newswire:

"We are very proud to officially announce that Grand Theft Auto V is in full development."

Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V heads to the city of Los Santos and surrounding hills, countryside and beaches in the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created.

"A bold new direction in open-world freedom, storytelling, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present day Southern California."

During the Game Informer Grand Theft Auto V Cover Story, the vice president of creativity for Rockstar Games, Dan Houser, has stated that Los Santos this time around is different and a lot more developed (having cities, wilderness, deserts, farmlands, villages, a Mount Chiliad, a military base and a fully detailed ocean floor including coral beds). Los Santos is also five times larger than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Red Dead Redemption all combined, along with interior spaces in each building, house, apartment and more. After some calculations by members of GawdAlmighty.com, that would equal to around 27.5 square miles when land and sea are put together. [5]

Michael is a retired professional bank robber, who after making a sweetheart deal with FIB, returned to the life of crime. Trevor is the loose cannon in this story, who is also a long time best friend of Michael's and a hot-head psychopath as well. Last but certainly not least, we have Franklin, a young and grim repo agent who has a large amount of experience behind the wheel, but no real experience to crime until he meets Michael while he was trying to get a hustle.

Hobbies and Pastimes

There are 42 hobbies and pastimes times in GTA V which contribute to 10% of the 100% game completion.

Arms Trafficking Air

Arms Trafficking Ground

Assassinations

Bail Bonds

Endless Summer

Flight School

Hunting

Off-Road Races

Parachuting

Property Management

Sea Races

Shooting Range

Sports

Golf There is only 1 Golf course in GTA V and it is called the Los Santos Golf Club, located near Richman. A full tutorial is given on entry and the entry cost is $100. There is 9 holes ranging from par 3's to par 5's. You can also play different members ranging in difficulty. Before you can play Golf you must first complete Franklin's Mission "Complications".

Darts becomes available after the completion of the "Crystal Maze" mission and its located in the Yellow Jack Inn near Route 66 and the Grand Sanora Desert. 301 is the only mode available.

Tennis becomes available after the completion of Franklin's mission "Complications". There is a number of settings available before the start of the game such as difficulty and matches. There are 8 court locations in Los Santos.

Triathlon #1 or Vespucci Triathlon is located on Vespucci Beach. It is a three discipline event made up of swimming, cycling and running and is very useful for increasing player stamina.

Triathlon #2 or the Alamo Sea Triathlon is located in Grapeseed. It is longer and more difficult than the first triathlon but can only be unlocked after the completion of the Vespucci Triathlon.

Triathlon #3 or Coyote Cross Country Traithlon is a gruelling ordeal located in Sandy Shores. This is a 30 minute triathlon and 100% stamina is advisible.

14. Street Races

15. Strip Clubs

16. Towing

17. Yoga can be unlocked after the completion of Michael's mission "Did Someone Say Yoga?". This activity is ideal to increasing Michael's special ability boost bar, meaning he can slow down time in gun fights for longer.

Galleries

Screenshots

Artworks

Trivia

On April 8, 2012, The Electric Playground (programmed show on WABC) stated that the next Grand Theft Auto blockbuster will hit streets in 2013, months before Rockstar's official announcement.

The vehicles in the trailer all have plates reading "San Andreas". Some of the license plates in the trailer are stylized as modern California license plates, while some are stylized after the 1980s style California plate, oddly out of place on new cars.

For the first time the cars can retract and deploy their soft top/hard top covers. In previous games convertibles were stuck with the roof they had or didn't have (with the exception of being able to install a permanent cover on lowriders in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas).

In the background of the first trailer, a certain building is about half completed. However, later in the video, the same building is nearing completion. This could be either be because the game was still in development, or an indication of time passing by, affecting the environment throughout the game's storyline.

The registration plates have orange stickers on the top right. The same plates are used for 2013 California registration plates. The same was also used in California in 2008.